Five members of the Randolph football team had a chance to check out Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park on Tuesday during Section VI Media Day. From the left are Xander Hind, Carson Conley, Ryan Carpenter, Owen Nelson and Jaiden Huntington. The Cardinals will take on Franklinville/Ellicottville in the Class D championship game at 3 p.m. Thursday. OBSERVER Photo by Matt Spielman

ORCHARD PARK — Three weeks ago, Xander Hind became the all-time leading rusher in Randolph history.

Now, the Cardinals senior has his eyes on another milestone: the program’s single-season rushing mark.

Head coach Brent Brown wasn’t quite sure what that number was when asked Tuesday morning at Highmark Stadium.

“Go ask Xander,” the longtime Cardinals coach said. “He knows it down to the yard.”

That milestone is 2,536 yards set by Chris Doubek in 2013, which came in the middle year of a three-season run of New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class D championships for the Cardinals.

Hind is up to 1,847 yards in eight games this season for the Cardinals. While other teams have played 10 games, Randolph has missed out on two – one when Frewsburg forfeited in Week 4 and another when Cattaraugus-Little Valley chose not to take part in the Section VI playoffs, leaving the Cardinals with a quarterfinal bye.

Hind has some work to do if he wants to break the single-season mark for Section VI – he’s actually 55 yards behind Iroquois’ Trevor Barry this year – and the Cardinals.

The task continues at 3 p.m. Thursday at Highmark Stadium when No. 1 Randolph takes on No. 2 Franklinville/Ellicottville in the section’s Class D title game.

If the Cardinals were to at least reach the state championship game, they would play four more games. Following Thursday’s sectional final would be a Far West Regional against Section V’s champion next weekend followed by a state semifinal on Black Friday at Union-Endicott High School. The championship game is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 3 at JMA Wireless Dome – formerly the Carrier Dome – in Syracuse.

“It just really shows how good we are as an offensive line and as a backfield,” Hind said Tuesday. “It’s not just me. It’s a fullback, it’s the line. I just run behind them. If we had those two games, it’d be a whole different story.”

Hind is currently 689 yards away from breaking the single-season record, meaning he would have to average just over 172 yards per game over four games.

“That was one of my big goals,” Hind said of breaking Nick Jackson’s career mark of 3,834 yards in the Cardinals’ final regular-season game against Portville. Hind is now up to 4,140 yards in his four years. “Another goal is to beat Doubek’s record.”

Brown will certainly give him a chance. Hind has carried the ball 180 times – 22.5 per game – but that number jumps to 35 carries per game in three games against Franklinville/Ellicottville or Clymer/Sherman/Panama, widely considered Randolph’s tougher games so far in 2022.

The Titans, their opponent in the sectional final for the second straight year, gave the Cardinals their toughest game back in Week 3. Randolph won that night in Franklinville 28-12 with Hind running 35 times for 275 yards and two touchdowns.

“(Hind) is a physical, big running back,” Franklinville/Ellicottville head coach Jason Marsh said Tuesday. “He’s tough to tackle. He runs hard and gets a low pad level. He’s tough to bring down.”

Franklinville/Ellicottville is coming off of perhaps its most complete game of the year, a 49-3 drubbing of rival No. 3 Portville in last weekend’s semifinals.

The Titans intercepted three passes and Beau Bielecki returned two of them for touchdowns, while they also held the Panthers to minus-17 yards rushing on 21 carries.

“I think we’re coming out right at our peak. It’s a good time to come through at sectionals,” Titans linebacker Ben Brol said Tuesday. “If we want our defense to step up, we need our offense. We need to get off the field on defense and not have any three-and-outs on offense.”

Offensively, quarterback Gian Nuzzo ran for 79 yards and a pair of scores while Hunter Smith ran for 85 yards against Portville. Bielecki also ran for a touchdown and caught a 59-yard touchdown pass from Nuzzo.

“We played our best game,” Smith said Tuesday. ” … Everybody came out and played together, everybody was making plays.”

But the Titans understand that the Cardinals – winners of five state championships – are not Portville.

In a 37-7 defeat of No. 4 Clymer/Sherman/Panama last Friday, Hind ran 31 times for 285 yards and three touchdowns.

“I’ll get my one or two guys and then I’ll just see him go hit some kids,” Randolph tackle Ryan Carpenter said of Hind.

Tight end Jaiden Huntington caught four passes for 83 yards.

“He’s unbelievable,” Randolph defensive coordinator Nate Armella said of Huntington, who is also the Cardinals middle linebacker. “Just to be able to do what he does on both sides of the ball is pretty special to watch.”

Randolph held the Wolfpack to 32 yards rushing and 63 yards through the air. At times this season, Franklinville/Ellicottville has been successful on the ground and in the passing game, so Randolph will be ready.

“They are a multiple offense. They like to spread you out, but sometimes they’ll come under center,” Armella said. “They have a lot of formations you have to cover. Their quarterback is a threat on the ground.”

Many players on both sides of the field played in last season’s championship matchup, a 26-0 shutout for the Cardinals. They understand only one team will advance Thursday.

“I just can’t wait for Thursday to throw the pads on and go hit some kids,” Carpenter said. “I think we’re bringing back so much from last year and we’re better than last year. We deserve to be here.”

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A preview of the Section VI Class C championship game between Fredonia and Lackawanna will appear in Thursday’s OBSERVER.